In many industries, and particularly the beverage industry, reusable bottles are employed. The bottler receives used empty bottles in cases, typically enclosed at the top by four flaps. Before the bottles may be removed from the cases, the flaps must be opened. Presently, there are machines for removing bottles from the cases, which machines can operate at extremely high speeds. However, the problem of opening the four flaps of each case to access the bottles is not a simple one. As is readily apparent, the four flaps typically comprise two pairs of two flaps each, the pairs being orthogonal to each other.
Flap openers have been known in the art, but they are presently of a rudimentary nature and not adapted for high speed operation. Further, known flap openers are neither positive acting nor reliable in operation. Often, cases are damaged or destroyed by virtue of flaps torn by the flap opening apparatus. Further, the known flap openers are given to frequently failing to open a flap, such failure resulting in an inability of the uncaser to make access to the bottles. Yet further, known flap openers are difficult to adjust to accommodate various sizes of cases.